Nipple fastener for nursing bottles



March 13, 1934. F. THoMA NIPPLE FASTENER FOR NURSING BOTTLES Filed March 16, 1932 7/21 9050? H/edn'c 772 0/723 y [w flitozrzeg Y Patented Mar. 13, 1934 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE Application March 16, 1932, Serial No. 599,181 In Germany February 23, 1931 1 Claim.

Nipple fasteners for nursing bottles known in the prior art are provided with return valves or air-admission valves located either in the inside of the screW-metal-top or in the rubber tube mounted on the bottle.

Furthermore feeding bottles are known having inside them a glass tube reaching to the bottom of the bottle.

These well known means do not meet the hygienic requirements of to-day as they cannot be easily and quickly cleaned or kept in sterilized condition on account of the material used and the unpracticability of the known fasteners.

In addition these known fasteners for feedingbottles do not answer sufliciently to the power of suction employed; likewise the time needed to empty the contents of the bottle cannot be compared to the conditions when the child is breastfed. 1

An object of this invention is to eliminate these disadvantages and to provide a nursing bottle having a valve placed in the metal-capsule of a feeding bottle-fastener, the conical shape of which is closely adapted to the inner dimensions of the screw-top; the surface of the valve body is provided with one or several grooves of such width as to form with the inner surface of the screw capsule one or more capillar rills.

The new fastener consists essentially of two parts: the screw capsule and the conical valve body. The fastener can be easily dismounted and readily put together again even by persons of no technical training. Equally easy is the complete cleaning and sterilizing.

The adaptation of the fastener to the weaker or stronger suction of the child is regulated by the number of grooves whichare marked on the surface of the valve body. For this reason several valves are supplied with each bottle; one of which is provided with one, the'other with two and the third with three grooves; either of which may be used according to the requirement.

By these means the baby is induced to suck with just the same intensity the bottle as the mother's breast; a very important fact indeed when the child is breastand bottle-fed, for when using the ordinary bottles the child need not suck so intensely as at the mothers breast. In consequence it sucks the breasts much more weakly than usually, thus influencing the formation of the milk in the breast. The quantity of milk decreases and is finally totally exhausted. With the feeding bottles in general use it is only in exceptional cases possible to feed a child continually by bottle and by mother-milk. This disadvantage is now totally eliminated by the new invented fastener.

The new fastener guarantees that no milk can exude in greater quantities when the bottle is adjusted for sucking neither can the child get too big draughts which cause belching and vomiting or in some cases choking. This is of special importance when the nurse does not hold the bottle but puts it on the childs bed.

The invention will appear more clearly from the following detailed description when taken in connection with the accompanying drawing, showing a preferred embodiment of the inventive idea.

In the drawing:

Figure 1 shows a nursing bottle in vertical section, and partly in side elevation.

Figure 2 shows a valve for said bottle in side elevation.

Figure 3 is a top view of the valve shown in Figure 2.

The nursing bottle shown in the drawing comprises an opening surrounded by a screw thread b. A packing ring 0 is situated between the body of the bottle and the lower cup-shaped portion of a sucking pipe d, which is screwed on the thread b. This pipe carries at its upper end one of the ordinary nipples and encloses with its lower end a fastener g loosely sitting on the opening end of the bottle. The shape of the fastening body is exactly adjusted to the inner dimensions of the member d, on the outside surface of the valve there are formed two grooves i of such a width that they form capillar-rills with the inside of the screw-capsule. Instead of the number of rills given in the figure i. e. two less or more grooves can be provided, one or three f. i.

The baby sucking milk through the nipple 1 produces a vacuum in the inner part of the bottle a which prevents a quicker further suction as there is no pressure-relief. In the moment when the child draws air in again after sucking, air penetrates spontaneously into the inner part of the bottle forced in by the atmospheric pressure which is higher than that inside the bottle, the exterior pressure raising the valve g a little. When sucking again the valve-body is attracted by suction to the inner part of the screw-top and the same transaction as described above is repeated. The regular click of the valve against the partition of the screw-capsule is distinctly to be heard, and the regular penetration of bubbles through the milk easily perceived.

arate valve body being similar in shape to the inner surfaces of said cup-shaped portion and being adapted to be pressed against said inner surfaces during suction, said separate valve body having at least one groove adapted to form a capillar rill with the adjacent inner surfaces of said cup-shaped portion during suction.

- FRIEDRICH THOMA. 

